In my last post, I showed some Jacaranda log halves I’d cut up and sealed in preparation for turning them into bowls. Here’s the first one I turned. It’s a very simple bowl. I concentrated a lot here on just practicing techniques, getting a very flat, slightly rounded slope to the inside bottom, and not suffering any catches or gouges. I didn’t want to leave any tool marks this time.

This is a rough turning, and has been drying now for 10 days. For the first week it was buried in its own shavings in a plastic grocery bag with the top left wide open.

You can see here how very wet this wood is. It’s all like the wet spot here when you start turning it, and you get pelted with a sprinkling of water anywhere above about 1k RPM. Note how it’s dried out considerably on the bottom, and how the water all pools up and is ejected out of the end grain:

Leaving the bowl on the lathe for awhile, just spinning at higher RPMs when done turning is one way to remove a lot of the water from the bowl, though I’m not sure of any adverse effects. I doubt there are any of much significance.

I left some inner and outer bark on one side, because I thought it looked nice:

The tenon will be turned away in the final stages:

Any thoughts as to what the grain reminds you of? Here are two views from opposite sides into the bowl:

As it’s had a chance to dry for 10 days now, I can remark a bit on how it’s changed. First, it’s warped only very slightly. It won’t take much to turn it back to true. Second, the bark inclusions – especially the outer bark areas have all pulled into the bowl tremendously, and are now probably 3/16” deep depressions that almost look like ergonomic finger grip recesses on a pair of pruning shears. Third, I didn’t notice any form of checking, which is fantastic. I will likely turn a few more like this, and these are prime candidates for testing out some dying techniques. I’m especially keen – still – to learn a bit more about trifern’s method, through actual application of the techniques. I won’t be any good thinking about it. Have to get out there and try/fail until I get it.

Here’s a final top-down view. I will be thinning it up quite a bit when it’s dry (or close enough), and refining the curves, and the wall thickness uniformity.